Folding wheelbarrow.



0. L. THOMPSON.

FOLDING WHEELBARROW.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. 1914.

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FOLDING WHEELBARROW- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. 19M.

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mm m1 m2 OSCAR I. THOMPSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING WHEELBARROW.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July c, rein.

Application filed June 3, 1914. Serial No. 842,681.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR L. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Wheelbarrows;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to transporting devices, particularly towheelbarrows, and has for its object the provision of a wheelbarrowwhich may be folded for convenience in transportation, shipping orstorage.

An important object is the provision of a wheelbarrow of this characterwhich is provided with novel and eflective bracing means whereby itscomponent parts may be rigidly secured together when the device is inuse, said bracing means being pivotally and otherwise secured wherebythey may be quickly disengaged when it is desired to fold thewheelbarrow.

Another object is the provision of a folding wheelbarrow which will besimple, comparatively inexpensive in manufacture, eflicient and durablein use, and a general improvement of the art. I

With these and other objects and advan tages in view, my inventionconsists in the novel construction, formation, arrangement andcombination of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aside elevation of my novel wheelbarrow in its extended and operativeposition. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view through the point of attachment of the wheellooking atthe front wall of the wheel barrow. Fig. 4: is a vertical crosssectional viewon the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar view on theline 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the wheelbarrow in itsfolded position, and Fig. 7 is-a cross sectional view therethrough.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numerals 10 and 11designate the side bars of my wheelbarrow which are formed at one endwith handle portions 12 and which are provided at their other ends withbearing plates 13 adapted to engage with similar hinged bearing plates14: for

supporting, revolubly, the axle 15 of the wheel 16. Legs 17 and 18 arehinged upon the lower sides of the bars 10 and 11, as shown at 19, andhave their upper ends cut away to form shoulders 20 abutting against thebottom sides of the bars 10 and 11 and to provide extensions 21 disposedupon the outer sides of the bars; In order to support ends 26 engagedwithin recesses 27 disposed on the under sides of the bars.

The bottom of the wheelbarrow is desi nated as a whole by the numeral 28and comprises similar plates 29 and 30 which are hinged together attheir contiguous lon- 31 Adjacent theirv outer longitudinal edges theplates 29 and 30 are provided with gitudinal edges by hinges 81 andhinged upon the side bars 10 and 11 as shown at rectangular slots orsockets 32 for a purpose j to be described.

In order that the bottom 28. may be held rigid and prevented fromaccidental folding, I provide cross bars 33 and 34: which have theirouter endsseating within rectangular recesses 35 and 36 formed in theupper sides of the bars 10 and 11. The plates 29 andBO are secured tothe cross bars a 33 and- 34k by bolts 87 which extend through the crossbars. and are secured by suitable thumb nuts 38. Bolts 88* pass throughthe plates 29 and 30 and into the side bars 10 and 11.

Secured upon the lower sides of the plates 29 and 30 adjacent their rearends and adjacent their hinged connection, are screw eyes or loops 39within which are engaged thehooked ends or diagonal brace rods 10 whichare pivotally secured, as at a1, upon the inner opposed faces of thelegs17 and 18, whereby the logs are prevented from swinging either inwardlyor outwardly.

The front of my wheelbarrow is designated as a whole by the numeral 42and comprises similar plates 13 and 14 which are hingedly secured toeach other, as shown at 45. Theplate 43 is also hinged upon the plate 29of the bottom, as shown at 46. In order to prevent the plates 43 and 44of the front from accidental folding, I provide bars 47 pivoted, as at48, upon the plates 43 and 44 and slotted at their other ends, as shownat 49, for engagement with projections 50, or the like, secured upon theplates 43 and 44. In order to prevent the front 42 from swingingbackwardly, I provide brace rods5l pivotally secured at 52 upon theforward ends of the bars 10 and 11 and provided upon their upper endswith hooks 53 detachably engageable within screw eyes, or the like, 54secured upon the front.

When the device is assembled, as shown and described, it is adapted foruse in hauling wood or long articles of any description. In order toadapt the device for hauling material. or articles whichmight roll OKthe bottom, I provide sides which comprise plates 55 having verticallyextending cleats 56 secured thereto, passing through the sockets 32 inthe bottom plates 29 and 30 and having their lower ends engaging withinU-shaped brackets 57 secured upon the outer sides of the bars 10 and 11.The side plates 55 have connection with the front 42 by hooks 58 pivotedupon the inner sides of the plates 55 and engaging within screw eyes, orthe like, 59 secured upon the rear edges of the plates 43 and 44.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a wheel barrow which, whenassembled and braced as described and shown in Figs. 1 to 5 of thedrawings, is adapted for carrying or hauling anything which can behandled with a wheel barrow.

In order to collapse my device for convenience in transportation,shipping or storage, I detach the hooks 58 from the screw eyes 59 andremove the side plates 55 by pulling upwardly upon them to release thecleats 56 from engagement with the brackets 57 and the sockets 32, andthen place the sides face to face with the cleats on one side engagingthe cleats on the other side. I then disengage the hook rods 51 from thescrew eyes 54 and swing them downwardly upon the tops of the side bars10 and 11, and then release the cross bars 47 from engagement with theprojections 50 and allow the cross bars 47 to be disposed verticallyupon the plates 43 and 44 of the front 42. I then swing the plate 44rearwardly upon its hinges 45 and into engagement with the plate 43, andallow both plates to swing forwardly upon the hinges 46 to lie parallelwith the bottom 28. The wheel 16 is removed by swinging the movablehinged bearing plates 15 open. In order to fold the legs 17 and 18, Idisengage the projecting ends 26 of the rods 23 from. the recesses 95'27 and also disengage the hook rods 40 from the screw eyes 39 and swingthe legs upwardly upon the hinges 19 until they rest against the lowersides of the side bars 10 and 11, the rods 23 sliding along the guiderods 25. The bottom 28 is folded by re moving the bolts 37, removing thecross bars 34 and from the sockets 35 and 36 and swinging the plate 28upon the plate 29. The side bars 10 and. 11 are then swung upon thehinges 31 so that the folded legs will lie along the plates 28 and 29.It is of course necessary first to remove the bolts 38.

When the device is folded as described, it will appear as shown in Figs.6 and 7 of the drawings, in which it is seen that the plates 29 and 30are disposed upon each other, the front plates 43 and 44 being disposedupon each other and in alinement with the plates 29 and 30, the sidebars 10 and 11 being disposed upon the outer opposite sides of thesealined plates, the legs 17 and 18 being disposed flat along the sides 10and 11 and upon the plates 29 and 30, and the wheel 16 being disposedbetween the side bars.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a wheelbarrow which may bereadily extended for use and which may be quickly and easily folded tooccupy but a small space.

It will be readily understood that I reserve the right to make variouschanges in the form, construction, arrangement and combination of partswithout departing from the spirit of the invention or limiting the scopeof the sub-joined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A folding wheelbarrow comprising side bars, a wheel detachablyjournaled thereon, a bottom foldable upon said side bars, legs foldableupon said side bars, a front hinged upon said bottom, and bracing meansfor holding said parts in their extended positions.

2. A folding wheelbarrow comprising side bars, a wheel detachablyjournaled thereon, a bottom in two sections foldable upon each other andupon said side bars, legs foldable upon said side bars, brace rodsconnected with said legs and detachably connected with said bottom,additional braces connected with the legs and slidably connected withcorresponding side bars and a front in two sections hinged to eachother, one of said front sections being hinged to said bottom.

3. A folding wheelbarrow comprising side bars, a wheel detachablyjournaled thereon, a bottom comprising two similar sections hinged toeach other, cross bars disposed below said bottom and engaging said sidebars, legs hinged upon said side bars, brace rods pivotally connectedwith the inner and forward faces of said legs and detachably connectedwith said bottom sections and slidably connected with said side barsrespectively, a front comprising two similar sections hinged to eachother and hinged upon said bottom, and braces pivoted upon one of saidfront sections and detachably connected with the other of said frontsections.

4. Afolding wheelbarrow comprising side bars, a wheel detachablyjournaled thereon, a bottom comprising two similar sections hinged toeach other at their longitudinal contiguous edges and hinged upon saidside bars, bolts extending through said bottom sections and engagingsaid side bars, legs hinged upon the lower sides of said side bars,brace rods 'pivotally connected with the inner opposed faces of saidlegs and detachably connected with the lower side of said bottomsection, brace rods pivotally connected with the forward edges of saidlegs and detachably engaging recesses in the lower sides of said sidebars, cross bars disposed below said bottom and seated within recessesin the top of said bars, a front com prising two similar sections hingedto each other, one of said sections being hinged upon one of said bottomsections, and brace rods pivoted upon the forward ends of said side.

bars and detachably connected with said front sections.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

OSCAR L. THOMPSON. Witnesses:

GEORGE H. SIMs, W. H. JOHNSON.

Copies 01. this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of JPatents, Washington, D. C.

